151 Customer Reviews of “Virgin Media (Was UPC)”

Review by alexandru_manciu, January 22, 2018

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Thank you Virgin Media for your extremely “professional” way of dealing with your loyal customers. Activating in part of what is called Customer Service domain, I gotta tell you that when you make a mistake, as person, company, etc, you don’t come with excuses for why you’ve done it, but with solutions to sort that problem. Apparently, this is not Virgin Media Case. You have bellow a case that shows how serious company you are, and how serious you treat clients that have been with you for many years. Enjoy the lecture…..

“Hi Alexandru.
Alexandru Manciu:
I have a very big problem with you guys, which I want to be sort it out ASAP!
Joana:
I am very sorry for the inconvenience, Alexandru. I can definitely check your account and provide the best resolution. Can you please confirm your account number?
Alexandru Manciu :
I don’t have it now, I can provide you my other details…
Alexandru Manciu :
Name: Alexandru Manciu
Joana :
Sure. Could you share your phone number (mobile or landline) and address? I’ll look for your account using those details?
Alexandru Manciu:
DOB: xx.xx.xxxx
Alexandru Manciu:
Adr: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Alexandru Manciu at 15:20, Jan 22:
registered mobile: xxxxxxxxxx
Joana :
Thanks a mill. For your reference, your account number is xxxxxxx. How may I help youtoday?
Alexandru Manciu :
Several months ago I spoke with an agent of yours, asking what should I do in case my contract will end up, as I am not sure how long long I will stay in Ireland. I was told that my bills will come automatically as 50 E/month….
Alexandru Manciu :
without me to do anything else….
Alexandru Manciu :
I was told that my contract will end up in 12.2017
Alexandru Manciu :
however, last month I was charged 79.9 E, and this month 84.9 E…..
Joana at 15:13, Jan 22:
I understand, Alexandru. I have checked it here and I can see that we tried to send you a letter advising you that there will be changes on the bundle price effective January buill, however, it was returned as undelivered.
Alexandru Manciu :
Joana, please….this is not an excuse….. You could contact me via E-mail….
Joana :
It states on the letter that there will be €4.00 changes on your bundle price and we will be removing the self service discount of €3.50.
Alexandru Manciu :
which you have it in your database…
Joana at 15:15, Jan 22:
I am sorry that there is no email address registered on your file here, Alexandru. Also, the address showing here is 3 NOTTINGHAM STREET, NORTH STRAND, DUBLIN 3.
Joana :
This is where the address we sent the letter and it was returned as undelivered.
Alexandru Manciu :
As I was not aware or agree with any of your modifications to your contracts, I will like to be fully refunded for the last 2 months, in which I was overcharged…. It is unacceptable to misinform your clients or overcharged them, covering yourself with excuses like “we couldn’t find you”
Alexandru Manciu :
If there is any supervisors that I could discuss this problem, I would like to be redirected to….
Alexandru Manciu :
Is not the first time when I get these type of excuses, and get over them…. and I’m afraid that this time is not gonna happened…. it’s already too much…
Joana :
I perfectly understand, Alexandru. I am sorry that we are unable to remove the charges. What I will do here is I will connect youto the relevant department. Please stay connected.
Joana :
I understand. Please bear with me.
Alexandru Manciu at 15:31, Jan 22:
In case of a phone conversation, I can be contacted on xxxxxxxxx
Info at 15:21, Jan 22:
Please wait while I transfer the chat to the right team.
Info at 15:23, Jan 22:
You are number 1 in the Queue. We thank you for your patience. We would still like to chat with you so if you keep this window open we will start as soon as we are available.

After about 20 minutes…..

Info at 15:42, Jan 22:
Hi and welcome to Virgin Media Chat. I’m Lucky . How can we help you today?
Lucky :
I can see you were chatting to my colleague, they have given me a quick update on the conversation so far and I will take it from here. Would it be ok for me to take a minute to look over the whole chat so far?
Alexandru Manciu :
Hi Lucky….
Alexandru Manciu :
Sure, take your time…
Alexandru Manciu :
I will wait…
Lucky :
Hello Alexandru. I am so sorry for any inconvenience on your bill.
Lucky :
Let me check your account. Before we proceed, can you please provide me with your account number, name, address and contact number please as it would appear on the account?
Alexandru Manciu :
Acc. No. xxxxxxx
Alexandru Manciu :
DOB: xxxxxxxx; Adr: xxxxxxxxx
Alexandru Manciu at 15:57, Jan 22:
Ap.xxxx
Lucky :
Great! May I know your name and contact number please?
Alexandru Manciu :
Contact no.: xxxxxxxxxxx
Alexandru Manciu :
xxxxxxxxxx
Lucky :
Thank you. Can I confirm if I am chatting with the account holder of Mr. Alexandru Manciu?
Lucky :
Hope you still with me.
Alexandru Manciu :
Yes, I am
Lucky :
Great!
Alexandru Manciu :
And yes, I am the account holder
Alexandru Manciu :
Sorry, for the delay in answer, I am at work at the moment…
Lucky :
I know a price change at any time is not welcome however for us to continue investing in our broadband service and offering the best value on the market our prices need to increase slightly.
Lucky :
No worries.
Alexandru Manciu :
Lucky… I am sorry, I might not make myself clear… I was told that after the contract will end, I will pay 50 E/month, without being needed to sign anything else, or to contact you.
Alexandru Manciu :
I was told by one of Virgin Media employees….
Lucky :
I am so sorry for that. We don’t have that deal or offer.
Lucky :
So that we can help you, we are giving you a €15 off for 6 months. Our 240mb Virgin Mix Tv and Anytime Mobile is just €74 for 6 months and €89 thereafter. 12 months contract
Alexandru Manciu :
So, basically, you bring this problem over me….
Lucky :
I understand you because I am also a customer.
Alexandru Manciu :
I am your customer for like 4 years…. I didn’t ask anything else in plus, beside a fare treatment….
Lucky :
Thank you for being a loyal customer from us. we do our best to give you a great services. I am so sorry if my colleague before toldl you about the €50 after your contract ends, even if it is not.
Alexandru Manciu :
As I said previously, my request is to be refunded in full for the months that I was overcharged.
Lucky :
I can see that we inform you about the price change this year. I’m afraid, I cant give any refund. That’s is why we are offering you €15 off for 6 months.
Lucky :
Our 240mb Virgin Mix Tv and Anytime Mobile is just €74 for 6 months and €89 thereafter. 12 months contract
Alexandru Manciu :
“I am so sorry if my colleague before toldl you about the €50 after your contract ends, even if it is not.” Unfortunately, I am not using sorry’s to buy groceries or to pay bills….
Alexandru Manciu :
But thank you for your time… I will make sure my story will be heard on all the media channels available….
Lucky :
If that’s a case I suggest you to call 1908 option 1 to our billing team, regarding your bill concern.
Lucky at 16:04, Jan 22:
*free phone call. “

Review by RTucker1999, August 25, 2017

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The speed of the broadband is extremely fast, even with over 20 devices connected at one time. The actual speed depends on the area you are in but in my area, I can easily get speeds up to 200MbPS. When the router has been on and active for many weeks (and even months), it’s performance is noticeably unaffected.

Despite it’s reliability, there has been one time where the “power levels” were really low meaning that the performance was incredibly sluggish and this problem wasn’t spotted by Virgin Media themselves but I had to report myself. This was due to an outdated router and cables which is understandable. After this was reported, a engineer was released a few days later who made us aware of the what was causing the problem and what he would do to fix it. He fitted us with a new router and cables before making sure we were happy with how it then performed and leaving.

When browsing the Internet, I sometimes worry about the websites and the content it provides as it is easy to accidentally click onto one which displays harmful content which you would otherwise not purposefully click. Virgin however is great at fully blocking one of these types websites that you may click on and displaying a message saying that the content has been blocked and what content it contains which caused it to be blocked. Not only does this protect you and your family (Or whoever uses it) but it also protects the Internet as a whole because you can report the website to an Internet watch group who will take further action.

The cost for Virgin Media Broadband is relatively high BUT the payoff for performance, reliability and overall safety is fully worth it.

Review by afluffyunicorn, April 23, 2017

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Oh boy where to start, first of all the internet speed I have is amazing but that doesn’t matter because the internet is so unreliable, every hour and I mean every hour the internet drops connection for about 20 mins, I have tried everything the support team told me to do and nothing works. To sum it all up the internet is expensive, unreliable and just a bad internet provider

Review by Steven, September 29, 2016

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Is now called Virgin Media. More speed than I needed. Only had service interruption once and was fixed within an hour or two.

Review by abcdefg, January 7, 2016

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UPC now Virgin Media has the worst customer service I have ever seen, I have been constantly dealing with them for an issue for the last several month, every single time when you ring them, they have no idea who you are, they don’t seem having any logs about what you were talking with them last week, every time when then transfer you to another department, you have to explain the same thing over and over again, they promise they will get back to you within 10 working days, and they never will, it’s a joke.

But on the other hand, their broadband probably is the best in this country, so you have to pray it will never have any issues

Review by EdwardVII, December 4, 2015

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VirginMedia-UPC

I had 2 accounts with this company and I cancelled them both over the past month since the takeover from VirginMedia. After 10 years with UPC I found the switch to VirginMedia has made this company more aggressive in billing and less customer friendly in solving issues. Our UPC box was 10 years old but I was told it could not be changed without taking out a new Horizon Box service that had 50% less channels and cost more. At peak times the broadband speed dropped significantly. I measured the drop using a free service from http://www.speedtest.net over a 3 month period. The service is reliable but the costs keep increasing and there are better deals to be had with Sky and Eir in my opinion. There is a lot of false advertising with VirginMedia in my experience so beware of the claims.

Review by robdonn, April 23, 2015

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I have had a UPC switchbox attached to my house for years (originally there from when I was a Chorus customer many moons ago!) and even though I switched to Sky for TV and Eircom for internet, the switch remained on the side of my house as it was providing service to my neighbours.

About 3 years ago I decided to get UPC Fibrepower broadband and while talking to the sales person I asked if I could get a discount as I had their hardware attached to my house for so long (if you’re in the same situation, always ask as a lot of the times they will). Unfortunately for me, their policies only allowed discounts on TV packages so he wasn’t able to help me out, but he said that there may be changes happening soon to their policies.

A YEAR LATER I received a call from that same sales person telling me that their policies had changed and that they could now offer me a discount on my internet subscription. I received credit towards my account that gave me free unlimited internet for a year and now a discounted rate.

I understand that people have had bad experiences with customer services at UPC, but believe me when I say that there are some absolute gems like that guy!

As for the actual internet service, it’s the best I’ve ever had in Dublin. The router is getting a bit old and the wifi is starting to cut out, but I have had it turned on non-stop for 3 years and a new router will fix the problem.

Review by Doug, April 21, 2015

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Some of the customer service staff at UPC are extremely rude to customers and this can be very disheartening. The customer service manager should surely be doing something about the customer disservice as I believe this is part of his/her responsibilities. Does UPC ever listen to the voice of the customer? Sadly, most of the ISP providers in Ireland all have very bad customer service and there is no public agency to keep them in check.

Until a year ago, both customer service and technical support were okay but the former has just been going downhill at a very remarkable speed.

Review by Doug, April 18, 2015

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Fair service but if you plan not to renew your contract then it can be problematic, even with a 30-day notice. They will move heaven and earth to try and collect cancellation charges from you. Make sure the 30-day notice is exactly 30 days, not more and definitely not less. I gave my 30-day notice a few days too early (although I indicated I was staying with the service until the end of my contract). The Horizon bundle was getting too expensive with a lot of extras I did not need and were totally unnecessary. There have been issues with disconnecting me too early and simultaneously seeking cancellation costs.

Review by upcSUCKS, March 24, 2015

Don’t know where to start.
Been with UPC for quite a long while now. Had no problem before their Horizon and 240 meg Fiber rollout.

I am a gamer, I need faster pings. I still get 35ms during off peak hours.
But here’s the thing, the **** ping is terrible during peak hours ( ~7pm – 11pm ).

Customer service will always try as if they are doing something to improve. But after 2 months of ****** ping of 900+ms and frequent dropped packets I am so done with them. They can ******** me all they like, but I am not an average computer user.

Problem is with their peers. They recently peer’ed with few other backbone providers, which was meant to increase their payload, but doing so harms the ping as traffic get’s routed through extra unnecessary servers. And frankly, the speed during peak hours are not that great either. The exchange that were just about able to handle 30 meg connections were overloaded with 240 meg connections from each end peers, omg. Do a simple trace-route, you will see that the problem is 2-3 peer before it reach you.

I’ve a server in Europe with 1Gb dedicated connection from which I trace and ping different UPC ip’s. Most of them reply absolutely perfectly, but many (including me) have ****** connection.

Review by upcshit123, March 22, 2015

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Pay for 120MB/s service. Get 45MB/s. Call service centre. Spend 1-2 hours waiting to get through. Do all the usual crap (reboot modem, etc). Still the same. Tech arrives. Fiddles with external junction box. Back up to 70MB/s for a while. Back to 45MB/s. UPC broadband is SHITE. Won’t be renewing.

Strongly suggest to use UPC. I have tried 5 internet providers in Ireland and UPC so far is the best. One of the worst ISP is Eircom (I am so angry on them) Customer support at UPC is excellent. They always pick up the phone. Internet speed is good enough. We have 120 Mbps speed, so my wireless computer is downloading movies (torrents) abuout 1.2 – 2.0 Mbps.

Review by Anthony, July 21, 2014

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UPC when working is probably the best ISP in the country however pray you never have any trouble with the service. The communication between the customer service department is the worst I ever seen in me life. Was thinking of something or someone to compare it against but I don’t think anyone/anything can be that bad!
They always promise your issue have “escalated” and they will ring you back ASAP. I never got a call. And when I ring them back up they don’t have a clue what I was talking about and are the most insincere/smug people you will ever deal with.
Overall broadband is excellent(when it works) however they need to do something with the customer service as this is holding them back greatly. Rant over!

Review by zombiebrainss, February 16, 2014

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I live in Limerick city center and for me UPC is by far the best for raw data Internet anywhere in Ireland.

I have their 120mbps / 10 upload package. The bundle included an unwanted and for me unnecessary add-on ‘Home Phone’. Choosing the ‘Broadband’ without phone home is not allowed and frankly the comreg organization that frankly do nothing in this country should look into this.

I have heard ‘Horror Stories’ about UPC Broadband – see their official facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/UPCIreland‎ – I however disagree. In my experience it has surpassed my expectations. I am a heavy user and in a given month 600 plus GB would be what I download. I skype with dozens of people worldwide and rarely have problems, even given the small upload allowance. Youtube, Netflix or any other service I use all operate at ‘near’ rated speeds.

The problem most people have with UPC seems to be price & customer service. YES UPC is expensive, UPC for example in Holland or Poland offer the same services for much less and broadband is faster. As most Irish people don’t complain companies like UPC (or any other provider) can ‘manage’ their bundle prices with no interference from Government or 3rd party ‘group’s’.

As I have not dealt with their customer service of late I will let it up to you to see their facebook page, frankly it doesn’t read good and is a definite indication of what I myself may face with them in the future.

Update: Yet another UPC Feb 2014 price increase – be warned.

Review by lugs, January 24, 2014

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We have been UPC customers for a number of years, but changed to their Horizon package last year, and have had ongoing problems which they seem incapable of resolving. Our broadband speed is supposed to be 150mbps, but this can (and does, often) drop down to only 1 or 2 mbps, and even cut out completely. Our usage has gone from over 100Gb/month to about 30Gb/month since we switched to horizon (that’s with 2 teenage daughters in the house). We have changed routers, cables, connections, etc. without any change. There are satisfied customers, but we are not one of those.

Review by NiallTheFirst, October 16, 2013

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Service itself is excellent.
Currently they are on my back about returning the box, which they failed to collect 5 months ago. Points dropped for this.

Additionally I have to say UPC we’re exceptional a couple of years ago as they let me pause payment while I was out of the country.

All in all a great service, I still have to see how the equipment return goes.

Review by mbalazs, July 31, 2013

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Dublin D1, after the Eircom nightmare… 2 working days after the contract, they sended the cisco modem-router. I got what they offered, 50/5 (speedtest) super fast internet speed, best in Dublin.

Review by ray, May 5, 2013

have the broadband need it for work worst ive ever had cant wait for my yr to be up going back to eircom come july had the tv cancelled that was a nightmare overall its terrible never again

Review by GART, April 3, 2013

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Left and went back, Phone and Broadband. I think they should put an additional charge for quality customer service and I think we would all pay! They advertised free upgrade to 50Mb and I contacted them to get the upgrade. I was told I would have to get a new router and it was around €45.00, I then explained that this was not free, they continued on the same line. I told them that my contract was up at the end of April and I would terminate the contract and the service and would request all UPC cables to be removed from the house or I would. I explained that I would remove the main cable from my building and to reroute would cost between 10,000 to 15,000 to carry out the job. They were so stubborn that they stuck their heals in, if i do disconnect they will come to me and offer bells and whistles and my solicitor told me that no way leave applies so I am entitled to cut the cables. It makes good practice to listen to your customers.

Review by C Beggan, March 5, 2013

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I moved to UPC about 2 years ago and I have to say the service is exceeding my expectations. I just upgraded from 25MB to 50MB, and although I had to pay €45 for a new 5 GHz router, my triple-play bill will now be €7 LESS per month! I’m now getting just over 50 Mbps on Speedtest.net, with about 5 Mbps upload and a 14-18ms ping. I’ve found the customer service a little slow in terms of call wait times, but overall they have been knowledgeable and efficient. I’m becoming a UPC evangelist, which surprises me!

Review by Mark g, February 24, 2013

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Have phone and broadband with upc.
No problems, upgragded to 50mb for free, and getting up to 62mb down and 6mb upload.
Ran loads of speedtests , and all show the same…. none of the Eircom crap of free off peak and weekend calls or line rental… plus 400 mins international calls 24/7

Review by Mark g, February 24, 2013

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Have phone and broadband with upc.
No problems, upgragded to 50mb for free, and getting up to 62mb down and 6mb upload.
Ran loads of speedtests , and all show the same…. none of the Eircom crap of free off peak and weekend calls or line rental…

Review by Jenny Thompson, January 7, 2013

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Ok speeds to be fair but you dont get the speeds state “* up to ” Better off with sky for Tv they got loads of more channels. Use eircom for landline calls as im sick of techies saying thats eircoms issue we only rent the lines. Stay away from bundle offers as its namely in big towns that you can avail of all services. Customer Care is a Joke. Please stop hiring Dublin people with “working class” accents. The sound rough. Stick to the Irish faking American\English accent and the Gay posh man talk.

Review by Marcin Muniak, December 31, 2012

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I’ve been UPC’s customer for some 3 years and during this period had just one issue which has been resolved during my conversation with their call centre. Speeds were rarely as high as they advertised (up to 20Mb) but also downloads never got stuck. I’ve been using just broadband and phone, not TV. I was based in Naas, Co Kildare that time.

Review by Jo-Ann, December 17, 2012

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Worst customer service I have ever experienced, I have often (and I have had to call a lot) been waiting to speak with someone for longer then 30 minutes and problems we experienced have never been fixed. Last person I spoke to unbelievably rude. When it works the performance is OK, but completely unreliable. Overpriced for the service received. Hard to leave even when contract is up. Very low standard and would not recommend.

Review by paul, November 8, 2012

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bill jumped from 69.50e to 86e after receiving a ‘free’ upgrade text.

I refuse to ring them because they are consistently the worst provider I have ever rang (been with them for donkeys yrs). I was treated so badly I cancelled my tv package and moved to sky, they have a monthly charge for that too.

I refuse to let them direct debit because their bill is completely random and they do what they want. if there was any decent competition I’d be gone from the broadband immediately.

I get about half the download speed they claim.

Review by Daniel, October 30, 2012

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Love UPC, hated them when they were Chorus NTL. Have had them since 2002 and service has been great. Every 6 months or so the connection speed increased by 1mb/s or so. Quite reliable, and outages are usually in the whole area. I have 25mb broadband with TV MAX and phone. Really cheap! And they don’t even charge line rental! I usually get 30mb down and 3 up. I love UPC! They mightn’t be the best company in Ireland but they’re in the top 10

Review by Alex Windia, October 27, 2012

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UPC are truly the ONLY good Irish ISP. Not only are they the only ISP who don’t enforce ridiculous data limits, but they offer high quality connection and speed, with little to no interruptions. I’m stuck with 02 due to financial difficulty, but if I had the money, I’d install UPC in a heartbeat. Makes me miss the days when I lived in a house with UPC.

Review by Richard, October 11, 2012

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With UPC broadband in Athlone for the past few years. Currently on the 100Mb package and achieving speeds of between 65 and 80Mb/s with uploads of 8Mb/s+. It’s expensive enough but the speed and reliability are worth it plus they don’t censor like eircom. Customer Service over the phone is a nightmare to get through to, but support through their Facebook page is great if you can wait for a few hours for an answer and if necessary they arrange a ring back.

Review by Joe Athlone, October 10, 2012

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I had UPC broadband for 3 years, speed and reliability very good, and customer service was also OK. Much better than Eircom

Review by Carolina, September 15, 2012

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It never delivers the speed you pay for, it gets really slow most of the times. At peek time from (8:30pm to 10:30pm) it the gets extremely slow and most of the times it looses the connection. I haven’t heard of a single person that is happy with UPC broadband. If you want to cancel they charge 100 euro for cancellation fee before 12 months and also charge 100 more if you don’t return the equipment but they are supposed to collect it, you can’t post it, so you have to wait for them and sometimes they never come.

Review by Robby, August 14, 2012

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have improved a huge ammount since the merger. Upgrading my connection speed every 6 months or so (in dublin anyway), never drops out, customer service has improved, WAAAY cheaper than any other comparable speed service, contention ratio seems pretty good (ie. negligible slow down at peak times)

I am a customer in clonmel and south dublin

They just need to increase their coverage to more areas.

Review by Jim, August 7, 2012

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UpC are the best for broadband imo,

Review by Graham Wood, August 6, 2012

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I’ve been with UPC for about four months now. I was previously with Imagine allegedly wimax (which isn’t really wimax at all). Initially we had a few problems with UPC with the wireless signal dropping out constantly. However they did something to the cable in the street after about a month and since then the service has been fabulous. I’m on the 50Mb Broadband, recently upgraded to 60Mb and I’m getting speeds of 52Mb down and 6.2Mb up wirelessly.

When we were having problems they went through various tests of our line and sent people to the house on a few occasions, replacing our wires from outside the house to the router and replacing our router (or gateway device as they call it) twice. We weren’t initially impressed with having to wait several days for someone to call out but to their credit they did always turn up when they said they would, and eventually our problems were all sorted out.

The prices quoted on the UPC website are a bit misleading as they don’t include the VAT. I’m currently paying around €100 for 60Mb broadband, phone and a basic TV package which works out around €5 per month more than I was paying Imagine. However Imagine were charging for 7Mb broadband and providing 1Mb, the phone was pretty flaky and they never sent anybody to the house despite being aware that the speeds I was getting were rubbish for more than a year.

I find myself in the unusual position of actually recommending an Irish ISP for the first time ever. I never thought I’d see the day

Review by Ciaran Kavanagh Hartstown D15, July 21, 2012

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N.T.L. was No Television Lately
U.P.C. is Useless Pathetic Crap

Sell Sell Sell that’s their motto customer service is as bad as capita the eircomm call center.
all the agents sing the same song off the same hymn sheet, target is to get the customer off the phone as quickly as possible ( within 3 mins) unless you are purchasing more or upgrading your service.

Review by Ciaran Kavanagh, July 21, 2012

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I got my Broadband installed in 2010 and since then the service has bee nothing but SH1T. lie after lie ah it’s not us it is the antivirus that you are using that is causing the problem.
finally after almost two years of crap an engineer came out and said it was a cable problem outside the house
and he would have it fixed, still waiting and still getting more lies. without a shadow of a doubt these are the worst company in Ireland to deal with.

Review by Customer 77268043, June 28, 2012

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I have used UPC for many years in many parts of Dublin … In short, when it works it’s the best, when it doesn’t you are screwed and have no way of dealing with it or getting valuable CS assistance (current customer support rating is “numpties”).

I moved to Beaumont in Dublin end of last year – ordered TV and 50 Mbps broadband – opted for self install as I am a tech with >20 years on the job and good at it – got gear – gear set up with no problems … after 2 good months comes 4 months of connection dropping (web dropped via WAN, LAN via WiFi/RJ45 was fine). The problem was obviously the rubbish Thompson router or such – ended up being dodgy wiring in street … now comes the connection speed – I pay for 50 Mbps (+TV = €81 pm), I get 12 Mbps (good day) to 1 Mbps (5 min ago) … customer support treat you like an idiot using a 2 tier system that forces you to submit the issue a second time (1st time an auto system sends you to a “how to connect browse the web” page or something equally as instulting …

My last place, after 3 months trying to sort the connection that never was, they finally admitted there was a problem in the street, they were given 1 month (in 2 steps of “we will do it in 5 days” & “please have done in 2 weeks”) before I ordered them to refund all payments since I moved in or face legal action – they did – I tethered my Android phone from then on.

Pros: they don’t censor your data like Eircom or invade you privacy using illegal deep packet inspection like Eircom – once you have a stable connection and speed it tends to stay that way – never reached any limits or gotten any fair use warnings

Cons: non-existent support – 75% chance you will have a bad installation and experience – almost 100% chance you will not get the speeds advertised and that you pay for

Review by Anthony warburton, June 25, 2012

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Upc are the best there telephone service is good and tv as well and there cheap as well i think they provide a good service i think people should give them a try

Review by Nicholas, June 6, 2012

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Excellent broadband speeds. Very good pricing compared to other ISPs. Service still deplorable! Installation team were a disaster, ignorant and unable to communicate with customer. They damaged my internal telephone wiring when they literally ripped out my existing UPC cable installation . I had to rewire and re-drill to get telephony working again. They installed the replacement cable by drilling a hole through the door of the external termination box – a total messy and incompetent wiring job. I complained to UPC and left a message on their post install survey but have got no response from UPC.

Although the BB speeds are excellent when directly connected tothe router, the Wifi speed degradation is severe on short distances from the installed router. Unlike eircom Broadband, UPC do not allow you to replace this router with a superior performing router.

Review by Sean, April 2, 2012

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i’ve been with eircom nextgen broadband and imagine wimax and both were just a complete waste of time. 3rd world service at 1st world prices! upc broadband is how broadband should to be… fast, reliable and best of all it never crashes (or at least it’s never happened to me). i have absolutely no complaints about upc’s service but would recommend to anyone looking into a broadband connection or looking to change to stay away from the two aforementioned packages!

Review by Kenneth S, February 28, 2012

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I was with UPC for a long time and last year, when I wrote to tell them I wanted to close my account, they claimed that they ‘had not received the letter’ three weeks later. Luckily, I had factored this carry-on into my plans and I sent another letter, which arrived three weeks before we left. They apologised, and I gave them their box and bits back.

However, the other day I rang them for the first time in two years, and learned that there was 60 euro outstanding on my account. Puzzled, I followed the automated service and quizzed the lady about the situation, and how on earth the machine could claim I owed them money, when I had left, amicably, two years before? Guess what happened next… she hung up on me. When I rang back the angry lady who answered claimed ‘I owed them the money, and that was that’. Shocked by her tone and hostility(I sh*t you not!!) I asker for her supervisor. She put me on hold for 7 minutes(yes, I timed it) and came back on to say that my account stated I owed them the money and she couldnt do anything about it. When I said that I had been holding to speak to a supervisor she said that ‘there was no point’. I protested and she put me back on hold for another 6 minutes. Finally, her supervisor answered and.. wait for it… she was angry at me!! she said that she had overheard the whole conversation and that her customer care team were correct in their handling of the situation. I asked her, given her certainty, if she could tell me how much money I said I had paid on my last day of moving out? She paused, before saying that ‘she had better things to do then argue with me over the fact I was refusing to pay the owed monies’.
This was TWO YEARS after I amicably left this company. They are truly the knackers of the tv/broadband world. I hope to God that anyone who reads this does not get UPC, as they are the worst I have ever met, when it comes to dealing with customers or treating people with some level of respect.

Review by Neil, February 14, 2012

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high speed internet that rarely cuts out , i think i had the line drop for 15 mins once in the whole year and that was because of line upgrades.

Review by jaffa, February 14, 2012

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i have the upc hd and broadband for the last year and have had no problems what soever i have the lowest package bb and has been constantly upgraded and i now have 20mb bb for €20 a month i cannot complain

Review by Andrew, February 2, 2012

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Hi guys UPC are scammers they charged me 114 euro for the box and install on a 20 euro a month contract.They said price included modem.After a month i upgraded to 50mb they said i needed a new box i got charged 98 euro just to upgrade!.2 months later they rang and asked for this old box back saying the box was still belonged to them they sent a guy to pick it up.My advice is to stay away also they have constant over charging which leads to endless phone calls.Staff are extremely rude and unhelpful no offence to any ladies here but the women do not give a crap about anything.With this company you will have endless troubles.I wish to god virgin media would come to the south of Ireland.Now there is a company who knows how to treat it’s customers.I also wish i could give UPC ZERO STARS!!!

Encountering constant broadband disconnections, I wrote to their so-called tech support and received an answer after 2-3 days clearly showing that the technician ( if he was actually one ) did not even bother reading my question. I replied that it would be nice to read my email first before sending non-relevant troubleshootings. He replied saying that he would escalate to the tech support, so I am wondering who he was then. Never got any reply from their real tech support. Still encountering

Review by ITF1, January 21, 2012

I got my modem delivered after my flat mate took his, the sales from UPC promised a seamless switch. But the service was not working at all after connecting the new modem. I called the installation Hotline which told me that a technician will pass by in FIVE days! I told the guys that this is considered as inacceptable and requested to cancel my subscription since the sales promised a seamless switch. Four days later I received a set of questions to troubleshoot my issue but I just replied that Im not interested anymore in a company which obviously gives a shit about their customers. Then I received a couple of calls from a other department which tried to explain me that Im breaking my contract, well sue me if you think you are able to succeed was my answer.

Summary:
They don’t listen to their customer
Service quality is not existent
Billing works fine

Review by Mickelodian, January 17, 2012

Lol… I’m not even a customer but I did get by post (twice) someone elses bill… now without obviously opening the bill I only know the womans surname…and since its one of the most commons surnames in Ireland (and there are none on our street) I really could only be bothered to call them and tell them they are sending a bill to the wrong address… were they interested? no?

Did they take my address or phone number to try work out who the customer was without breaching the data protection act by giving me details of an account holder? no!

Did they ask me for my phone number, or any other details where they could work out what was going wrong… I didn’t mind they could have asked and got these details if they liked… erm… no… not interested.

So after Mrs Gorman its switched off for not paying the bills she didn’t get I certainly won’t be replacing her custom to UPC with mine…their customer service is like talking to the combined intellect of a bloody grapefruit!

the long and short of it is we get this womans bill… and it goes in the bin.

Their customer service staff seem to remove their brain before starting work…

And before signing up with this bunch of morons I’d suggest anyone considering doing so calls them first with a query to ‘test’ their customer service and you’ll see what I mean…

idiots…sheer idiots…they are clearly hiring from the people who couldn’t get a job in mcDonalds.

Review by Ben, January 13, 2012

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I have a bundle with TV, internet and home phone and no complaints about it at all.

Review by Fardoun, January 4, 2012

My biggest problem with UPC is an absolute disregard for the customer – i am based in sandyford availing of broadband and tv – but they dont provide HD nor Homephone but are incapble or indifferent to giving a forecast as to when they will do so – Id love to move to someone else

Review by Claude, January 4, 2012

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Its 2 months that im trying to get UPC broadband installed, same excuse that many others had got, the address in their system is wrong, obviously isn’t true, I got the modem at my address and anyway i sent many faxes with papers that proof it and confirmed it many times over the phone, but the customer service is very poor, and agents dont give a sh.. btw I live in usher quay so an area very easy to find. I am sick of them now so I call to 3 shop today and will get a int mobile smart key, I rarely use internet so i think at the end of day is the best option. Obviuosly i dont recommend upc to anyone

Review by Nora Rafferty, December 31, 2011

I wrote to Chorus to cancel my subscription. Paid by Direct Debit up to Cancellation Date. Then cancelled my DD. They are after me no for service after cancellation date. They claim they didnt recieve my letter. I wrote to the only address that I had for them in Limerick…. They said they are no longer at that address. Is that my fault????? They have a Debt Collector after me now. I have an impeccable Credit History & Im going to fight this Chorus even if it costs me. I will not allow them to get away with this. Its outrageous

Review by crome, December 25, 2011

Worst tech service ever, my broadband was down on 22.12, tech apoitment arranged on 24.12 between 08-13, they never came , i called them and i hear unbelievable story, they could’nt find my address, haha thats funny, internet installed 2 years ago, apartments with multiple ntl holders, new apoitment arranged on the 03.01.2012, thanks ntl,!!!!

Review by Sim, December 11, 2011

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Ok, sometimes the line has some issue, but it’s not that bad and it’s a good value for money, I think.

Review by Attila Matskassy, December 8, 2011

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I ordered 50MBits online, Arranged an apointment with the tech team for a monday, for which I did ask day off at my company.
The tech guys were supposed to arrive between 9am and 12, they never showed up
I called them before 12, they told me they are on their way, when I called at 12:30 tehy told me the apointment is set until 13:00 (I checked back, it was not)

at 17:30, my phone is ringing, I hoped its them, appologizing.. well it was them.. in a way… a recorded voice told me if I agree with the appointment on friday, between 9 and 12, then I should press 1.

Great.. such a lovely service..
I mailed them, (after trying to get through the phone customer service recorded audio automatism) demanding a letter of appology, and free installation. 8 hours later I got a message that my appointment got cancelled.. Super..

The next day (48hrs after first apointment) the tech guys ringed on my door, like everythings supposed to happen like this.. What a reliefI thought, at least I will have hardwire afterall

at the ground floor, one of the guys checked the cable jucntion, and freaked out of ther brown coaxial cables.

he took some measures, and after 20 mins hangong on the phone, he told me that these cables are not suitable for broadband at all, moreover they have no intention to replace the main cables in the house, even if I pay.
In the end as final result: In the middle of teh city centre (just at patrick`s bridge) I cannot have a decent hardwire internet connection.

Isn`t that just great?

The funniest thing is: While it was Chorus, the previous tenant DID have internet of them, and there was no prob with the speed

Review by Paul, November 25, 2011

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Very bad customer service, I feel sorry for the few cs agents who work there and can actually do their job. The vast majority just want to get you off the phone.
Engineers booked.. never turn up. I had one occasion where I saw the guy get out of his van… walk up to the door and put a note in to say he called but i wasnt here and drove off. Contacting Upc 9/10 = annoyance.

Just got UPC installed in minutes, no problems super fast and such a joy compared to the( Three CRAP i got rid of) It is the way broadband should be and for a good price. Happy surfing…

Review by wen from Rathmines, October 4, 2011

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Still trying to get it installed. Engineer didnt show up.Cant get my address right on their system. When I ring the sales line they answer quickly but with the service line you wait for ages. An absolute shambles.

Review by Anonymous, September 20, 2011

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Anthony from crumlin upc are the best i am with them for years i never had any problems with them they put new cables and boxes in and everything is ok. Since the upgrade in the area its even better

Review by Rory, September 4, 2011

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With them two years excellent service all round alot of people think sky offer extra channels but in fact its just free to air channels they recieve because of the satelite!! I actualy believe the bad comments and reviews are from scared competitors employees on this review!

Review by Ed, September 3, 2011

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I was very unsure about UPC as I had a bad experience with NTL some years back. But after paying through the nose for an Eircom line which seldom got above 2mb I decided to take the plunge.
In March 2011 I ordered the 20mb Broadband and Anytime world phone, a package that costs just over €50 per month. I have not looked back. The broadband is fast, and stable. This week it was increased to 25mb line at no extra charge. I test the line regularly on SpeedTest.net and am currently downloading at 21mbps (Prior to the upgrade this was about 19mbps)
Ten times faster than eircom and still cheaper. Actually, as I have anytime world I have taken to calling relations in England because it is free.
The only bad thing I can think of is the customer service hours. Monday to Friday??? This is an internet provider and as most people work Monday to Friday there should be support at the weekend. Luckily I have not needed to call them. Six months down and loving every second of it!!

I am in Dublin 16, using an Intel iMac with OS Lion

Review by therese o toole, September 3, 2011

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i have recently become a customer of chorus .. im sick of the phone line going down and the internet going downtoo .you claim its the fastest service around it took me half an hour to get to this im seriously thinking of changing server unless i get a reply and the service improves fast

Review by Anonymous, May 29, 2011

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Excellent speed and reliability but terrible customer service. Once you get past the installation stage and dealing with their staff you can sit back and enjoy.

Review by UPC RIP OFF, May 15, 2011

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UPC RIPPING PEOPLE OFF ON EVERYTHING ON BROADBAND, PHONE AND TV. TV MISSING A LOT OF CHANNELS BUT UPC NOT WILLING TO LOWER WHAT THEY CHARGE. THEY REALLY NEED TO LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH CUSTOMERS

Review by James - Donnybrook, Cork, May 10, 2011

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After BT (brilliant service) sold out ot Vodafon (terrible service) I moved away from DSL to Cable. I haven’t looked back, the connection has been up and stable since the day it was installed.

It does sometimes slow down in the evenings and certinly doesn’t give the 15MBs advertised but I need relaibility for my gaming and it does the job just fine.

Review by An angry customer, April 21, 2011

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Tried to get some proper broadband around, in Kilkenny, but ended up with UPC instead. I got the 30Mbps packagefor almost 1 year now. First of all, the speedtests on their website are… theirs. Of corse you’ll have 30 mb with (almost) all the upc customers, you should have a lot more than that (but metropolitan net doesn’t exist in Ireland, of course)…. So: no download caps… Right.. why don’t you check the “Acceptable usage policy”?? External net speed (in different other countries it’s called Internet), if you’re a gamer? better leave it… The shocking part is the ping results with servers from Limerick or Cork: over 250 ms oO It’s like they are on the other side of the earth, I bet I can get better pings with eircom and some japanese or corean servers. The only times when it feels like a proper broadband is sometimes during the week (except mondays, when I got a free day, of course) maybe at the lunchtime, when everybody is looking to eat instead checking e-mails, or at 3-4AM in the morning. Exactly the times when a working person can’t use it.. I wouldn’t mind to pay more, but the quality of the irish isp’s is nonexistent… But the most shocking result? I use to live in Ballyragget (outside Kilkenny), and a vodafone or eircom 7 mb package (dsl – i tried both of them) were A LOT BETTER! How is this possible? I still have patience and I hope someone in the gov will wake up one day after a nice sleep and start doing things right

Review by Susan, March 27, 2011

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Product is pretty good, but customer service is not.

New customers pay less than existing customers… the longer you stay with UPC the more you will be paying in relation to other customers who have come in at a later date than you did.

Their response to that. “New customers get better deals than existing customers”.

They have no concept about customer service and do not try to keep existing customers.

Also, speed tests never show that you are getting what you pay for…..

Review by Oscar, March 14, 2011

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Customer service -0, their staff have I’dont care attitude they answer like robots once they stick with one answer don’t bother say anything else, they need proper LISTENING SKILLS training. Broadband service excellent, TV package don’t worth the money SKY is the best and sky staff knows where their salary is coming from they treat you like a KING.

Review by Anonymous, February 4, 2011

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The worst customer service in the world. They cannot get anything right, no matter how many times you call. NEVER EVER AGAIN

Review by Mr Bunny, December 18, 2010

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I’m using the UPC 100mb fibre optic plan. It costs 80 euro a month, but because I’m sharing the cost with house-mates, it represents good value for money!
Just got it installed yesterday, free Wireless-N router. And so far, I’m very happy with the result. Because I’m sharing the connection with one other person at the moment, I get about 40-50mb. I just did a speed test
Last Result:
Download Speed: 44551 kbps (5568.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 8790 kbps (1098.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 49 ms

In laymen’s terms, thats a standard 700MB CD in roughly 100 seconds or so, or a 4.7GB DVD in less than 10 minutes.
I am very happy with the speeds, I was previously with Clearwire, paying 40 euro for a 2Mb service, about 22 times slower than this new service.

Review by Cork Lad, December 13, 2010

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I have Chorus NTL for 2 years.
Unfortunately is the faster one in my area.
The service is extremmelly poor to say the least.
I’m paying for a 30MBps and I have 11MBps (tested on NTL site) !!!

It’s sad.

It’s also sad there is nobody to give them some competition.

Review by peter r, November 30, 2010

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this company is full of absolute bullshiters constantly telling me the problem is on my end there own technicians were clueless to the problem when they came out 5 times each time it was something different and i was told that was the end of my problem . there customer care is an absolute joke hidden charges on all my phone bills.**** these shower of gangsters give me sky any day.

Review by Tom, November 17, 2010

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Was with them over a year and a half but just moved out to Ballincollig and they do not have their service out there. So now having to look for someone else which is a pain. I have to say they have the worst Customer Service of any company I have ever delt with. When I had to set it up the 1st time I moved into my new home. (I was with them in my parents home also) it took weeks of calls promised call backs. Lies from staff and even rudeness from some of the managers. Now in fairness this was about a year and a half ago when they were still chorus so I don’t know what the customer support is like now. The internet service though made it all worth it. I had the fastest connection 30MB and most of the time it was that. I could download a HD TV show 1Gig in about 15-30 mins. It was a dream to use and never had any problems with service. So if you never have to ring them up about anything you will love it.

Review by Flagg, November 4, 2010

Recently got the 8mb package without TV, modem arrieved 2 days later and I done a self install, Could not get it to work, phoned costumer service and had a technican call out 2 days later. He replaced the modem and some of the wiring.It worked straight away and I was able to hook up the modem to my old wireless router with no problems.
The speeds seem very constant, never dropping below 7mb. I did spend quite a while on hold when I called costumer service but overall they were quite prompt fixing the problem.
Have only been with them a month but so far so good

Review by rob, October 31, 2010

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What can I say? A *TERRIBLE* ISP. I’ve had problems with my modem dropping regularly, I’ve gone through technical support which is absolutely appalling. Technicians have called out FIVE times to fix the same problem but the problem remains.

I’m told my modem has a “poor signal”. Five visits from technicians later and I still have a “poor signal”.

First it was to change the lines leaving my house, then it was changing the lines to the modem, then it was changing lines outside, and now they’re calling again. To do what? god knows.

Area faults are extremely common, and they never ever offer compensation for these faults.
Customer support is truly awful, their staff don’t seem to give a shit and send you around in circles.

No reference IDs to follow up problems, nothing, you need to repeat the same crap every single time.

Their management obviously sucks too, they’re sitting on top of this pile of shit.

Stay away from NTL/UPC!

Review by Philip, October 28, 2010

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I left upc six months ago because of poor service and switched to a mobile provider. However because I wanted to play poker online and the mobile provider connection was not stable so could not connect to some sites I have had to switch back. My nightmares are back. Arranged for internet only installation.
Fitters turned up and were unable to install due to lack of signal strength. Technician is called in and traces problem back to water in a junction and says that cabling will have to be repaired. Says they will arrange a new appointment when this is done. I hear nothing until a bill arrives 3 weeks later!!! Charge for services and installation that has not taken place. Phone straight up to see what the hell is going on.
Appologise and say they will arrange installation and credit bill. I say they need to know if work has been done before they can re arrange install, they cannot do this without me saying go ahead with the install!! Have now got installed and they are refusing to cancel the original invoice. Customer service is crap still. Also still takes ages to speak to an operator. They then are unable to deal with problems need to “speak with someone in another dept” . UPC are still the absolute worst in customer services which is a shame because there technical side has improved greatly. Whatever you do pay the extra and do not sign a direct debit with them as they just cannot get invoicing correct and as a previous person says you are never under charged !!

Review by johnboy, October 25, 2010

A bunch of slimy con artists!!!!! I upgraded my connection from the the 50 euro a month 10 MB connection to the 75 euro a month 15 MB TV package, I just got a bill for 215 euros for one month (no other charges, just TV and broadband). They are charging me for a 30MB connection that I never wanted and are justifying it because of high usage. I explained that I upgraded to the 15 MB because of the high usage and they just tried to lie their way out of it. The salesperson lied about the original package and the customer service agent lied about the usage, even when i asked the dopey cow what the limit was she didn’t know. DO THEY REALLY THINK THAT THEY CAN CHARGE A PERSON 2600 EUROS A YEAR FOR TV AND BROADBAND, ARE THEY F***CING INSANE????

Review by David Walsh, September 8, 2010

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I rate UPC at 4 stars because I find there internet service pretty good.
In the past I found them absolutly crap and they still are customer service wise.

Review by John C, August 24, 2010

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After reading reviews here I was reluctant, but the 30mb package for €50 was drawing me in and after some research I decided to take a punt, and it paid off!

Delivery and Installation completed quickly.Few days everything was spot on. Then some issues arose including speed drops after 6PM as low as 1Mb!

Correct customer service can be better from some of the technicians(If you get poor service from a tech, I recommend you log a complaint, difficult at times but the way forward) but the customer service representative that I spoke with was fine.

After a few rounds with them my connection got fixed and I am now happy to report that on a wired connection I am consistently receiving 29/30Mb which is exactly what they promised. Upload speeds were rocky but not a major concern for me, however they do appear to have improved and are appearing consistent. Getting 2.7/2.8Mb upload.

I would say take a punt if you can afford the €50 per month. Simply put if you are not getting what they offer within reason, ie 30Mb connection, I would be happy with above 20Mb as their is a lot of variables involved. Anything less I would call and they are not providing the agreed contract and withdraw. Simple as.

Regards
John

Review by John C, August 20, 2010

After reading reviews here I was reluctant, but the 30mb package for €50 was drawing me in and after some research I decided to take a punt, and it paid off!

Delivery and Installation completed quickly.Few days everything was spot on. Then some issues arose including speed drops after 6PM as low as 1Mb!

Correct customer service can be better from some of the technicians(If you get poor service from a tech, I recommend you log a complaint, difficult at times but the way forward) but the customer service representative that I spoke with was fine.

After a few rounds with them my connection got fixed and I am now happy to report that on a wired connection I am consistently receiving 29/30Mb which is exactly what they promised. Upload speeds were rocky but not a major concern for me, however they do appear to have improved and are appearing consistent. Getting 2.7/2.8Mb upload.

I would say take a punt if you can afford the €50 per month. Simply put if you are not getting what they offer within reason, ie 30Mb connection, I would be happy with above 20Mb as their is a lot of variables involved. Anything less I would call and they are not providing the agreed contract and withdraw. Simple as.

Regards
John

Review by mk, August 13, 2010

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I had been with BT for about 5 years, their service was OK most of the day but very flaky during peak hours. BT sold us to Vodafone in Jan 2010. Vodafone was an complete disaster. I moved Phone and broadband to UPC in May. This was done after they had upgraded the cables in my estate to fibre optic (fibre power to use their marketing term). I have to say I am delighted. The broadband is fantasic, I really do get 30MB on a computer connected by cable to the modem. On wireless connections I get 10MB to 15 MB all the time. The phone service is crytal clear. There was a bit of cockup regarding the order and delivery dates etc, etc. But the services have been reliable and fast for 3 months so far. I will report with updates in the future.

Review by bimmelchen, July 7, 2010

I am with this company since 1 1/2 years. My experiences are between somehow relieved they got the issues sorted and disgusted by the way they treat their customers.

I had 2 months of daily failure, a couple of times when it went down and since 2 days the service is gone again. If you try to call customer support you have to plan in at least half an hour waiting. When you get through you get unsatisfying to no answers.

Sending an email – they will call you back straight onto your mailbox. No chance to answert the call except you ask for this in the email. If you have the chance to talk to someone: Always keep in mind what they say might not be true. I have talked to about 7 different people and they all tell me different things about the problem with the line.

Review by Anonymous, June 14, 2010

I am writing regarding the most inadequate, substandard, incompetent service that I had to endure from Chorus. It takes on average 20 to 40 minutes to get your call answered and when you eventually get to speak to someone you clearly get an inadequate response. I had problems with both my telephone service and television service on a continuous basis and they were never adequately rectified. It would take approximately two weeks to send a technician out who would tell you there was no major problem.

I requested to suspend my service due to travel and it took them over two weeks to respond to my e-mail and then charge me a penalty of 100 euro, combined with the fact that the service was suspended for over three weeks after the date I requested. Following that they sent. I complained but was ignored in all my correspondence to Chorus and subsequently received threats if the amount was not paid that I would be on a debtors list. For my own name and reputation I paid this BUT I find it unacceptable that they send me such threats when they have been more than obnoxious in dismissing me as a customer and failed to communicate with me.

I would urge anyone who is contemplating Chorus to think carefully as the experience is horrific and there is a constant breakdown of service which has cost me my time and significant inconvenience. In light of the current economic climate when companies are struggling, it is a disgrace to think that companies like Chorus are surviving.

Review by Oblix, May 29, 2010

I have been with ntl upc for almost 2 years .Beside the fact that the speed is crap some times,.. i got a lether saying i have gone over the fair limit wich is 250gb about 7 monts ago. So i started monitoring my trafic .A few days ago i get my huge bill saying that i have been upgraded for the extreme user because i have used 390gb in the mont of march only.Wich is a lot of crap!!!!! the bigest scam!!!! .Because i monitored my usage and because i only download 2,3 movies per week and because i changed my wap key with a very long one after receiveing my first leather ….only one option is standing…..They are a bunch of greedy tiefs!!!!!!!!!!

Review by Anonymous, May 14, 2010

got 15mb no real notable problems epc2425 is the wireless router had a firmware issue for a few weeks but now it works all day constant speed of 14.93mb and 1.43 upload which is what i payed for great for gaming xbox live never lag
Try and workout how close you are to your node which is like a telephone exchange there boxes located on footpaths not hard to miss see how close you are to it closer means better connection just like dsl

Review by Bulger, May 13, 2010

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I moved from Eircom to UPC one year ago and I cannot fault it – I have not been offline since. I get 15mb download speed and I pay for 15mb. Nice One. TV service needs improvement and is not recommended although it is improving.

Review by Katherine, May 11, 2010

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I’ve been with them for years in Kilkenny, both broadband and television. Not phone, because I use only VOIP and mobile now, which means I don’t need to have Eircom in my life at all. While there are occasional issues, these have become far less common of late and the service has definitely improved quite a bit. Looking forward to better speeds in the future.

Review by Paddy, May 8, 2010

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Best Broadband for Kilkenny ,best speed ,uptime ,download speed ,customer service has got better in recent years

Review by Mark, April 29, 2010

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I have set up an account for an apartment last year, the bill was completely incorrect, finally they admitted this and made a mess of every bill there after, so i had to monitor my bills to make sure they werent over charging me ( they never seemed to send incorrect bills under charging me).
I have just set up a new account and they have done the same thing!! Im blue in the face wasting my time trying to get billed correctly, they quote € 70 for a fibre web package, (tv broadband) buying each separately seems to cost less? They also quote there services, residential services ex VAT? This in my view is misleading, this is a residential service, I wont be claiming VAT back! We have been charged installation fee twice this bill also????

Review by Robby, April 27, 2010

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Upgraded to 30mb broadband, often get 1-5mb, rerely over 10. I once found it up at 21 but it never reached the speeds promised, even when plugged in using ethernet and testing speed on their own server. Too many times ive called and waited, then complained and been promised a call back, but nothing. Extremely poor reliability. We also have tv from chorus, the tuner box is shit, the menu is shit, the service is shit and the customer support is shit. DONT GET UPC. If i could give them 0 stars for customer service and reliability i would. The ONLY positive thing i have to say about them is that they dont charge line rental, but id prefer to pay that and have a reliable connection, than the crock of shit im paying for now. I should not have changed from Imagine.

Review by G8, April 15, 2010

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After signing up to 10MB and getting that speed, for all of 2 months now I am stuck with a 0.8mb download and page timeouts…. on hold for 3 consecutive nights for 30 mins plus the one night I persevered I got through to a lady who told me shou would have to get me a call back in 24-48 hours from a broadband tech rep…. who had I waited 30 mins to speak to? after option 2, option 2 option 2 option 2, my blood type and stool sample? I would love to see what course of action they are going to take or excuse I get fobbed off with.

Review by Paul, April 11, 2010

With Chorus/Ntl broadband now for three weeks. Paying for 15 mb and Im continiously getting speeds of 15mb every day. Havent needed to phone customer service yet and to be honest Im happy as I was with Eircom and was paying the same for 1mb and worse telephone bundle deal

Review by Thomas Connor, April 6, 2010

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I would stay and give them a chance you always have problems at the start just keep on the phone to them and you will get it sorted. If they have put two splitters on to your pipe wire take one off you only need one. One guy put two on my pipe wire was having trouble then another guy came out and could not understand why they do this so give that a try because it effects everything. Hope it works out ok so far they have been very helpful . I have a few family members moved over so they don’t have to pay eircom 25 euro line rental.

Review by Patrick, March 31, 2010

Hello I have been with UPC/NTL since the 20th Feb 2010 using wireless braodband at 22€ per month when you have a TV service with UPC. All was fine for the first week with the broadband. Suddenly the TV and broadband failed and in the past few weeks we are having loads of problems. We have no internet connection however it will work for a short period. The story is so long I wont go in to it hot yesterday evening we spent from 6.35 pm untill 10 pm trying to solve the problem whilst on the phone to UPC Technical support but no luck as my wifes mobile lost connection at approx 8pm. After 8 pm the internet connected for about 15 mins. I have sent UPC an email that one A4 page long. They continue to haress me to get piad thier invoice. I was with Vodafone and I had no problems but I changed to same money as I didnt need the landline at a total cost of approx 48 per mth. I am now sorry I changed to UPC. Do I try and stay with UPC and things might get sorted or what?

Review by Patrick Gorman, March 31, 2010

Hello I have been with UPC/NTL since the 20th Feb 2010 using wireless braodband at 22€ per month when you have a TV service with UPC. All was fine for the first week with the broadband. Suddenly the TV and broadband failed and in the past few weeks we are having loads of problems. We have no internet connection however it will work for a short period. The story is so long I wont go in to it hot yesterday evening we spent from 6.35 pm untill 10 pm trying to solve the problem whilst on the phone to UPC Technical support but no luck as my wifes mobile lost connection at approx 8pm. After 8 pm the internet connected for about 15 mins. I have sent UPC an email that one A4 page long. They continue to haress me to get piad thier invoice. I was with Vodafone and I had no problems but I changed to same money as I didnt need the landline at a total cost of approx 48 per mth. I am now sorry I changed to UPC. Do I try and stay with UPC and things might get sorted or what?

Review by STEO, March 12, 2010

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CRAP CRAP CRAP

Review by Thomas Connor, February 26, 2010

Have been with upc over the last couple of months .I have had a few early problems with there help from there staff got them sorted. customer service staff are good had to wait but unlike smart telecom ringing upc is free so don’t mind waiting am happy with the way I can access my account details online. easy to sort out problem lets hope they don’t start messing people around.

Hi
I use broadband for home and business.
Working in the Entertainment world I need a reliable connection to the internet which unfortunately NTL Chorus / UPC ( or whatever they call themselves now) have been unable to supply as contracted.

I live in Howth Dublin and every day the internet will be unavailable for up to three hours intermittent. Looking at their website which has been “upgraded” from their previous yellow pack version or if you like “My first website” standard, You can see what the problem is :contempt for the customer and respect for the bottomline.

Chorus NTL Ireland is absolutely the worst service provider I have ever had the misfortune to use.

I am looking at alternative options

Review by Ryan, February 11, 2010

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Granted, their customer and tech support agents are possibly the most usless people you can ever speak to, their product does speak for itself. Where i am living now we have a 30down/5up connection, with true unlimited down/uploads. Granted this does cost us 100e a month, its worth it when you have 3 people in the house who torrent like its going out of fashion. For the last 3 months in a row we have been clocking up well in excess of 1TB a month (no bull) But like clockwork the connection will drop every night every few mins to hours between 5-10pm (Peak times) and its not a ip change as we have a static IP. But any other time its fantastic. No ports blocked at all. If you are like me and only download BR movies and FLAC lossless music then this is the company for you. They are by no means great, but are the best of a bad bunch.

Review by Anonymous, February 11, 2010

IF YOU WANT BROADBAND DO NOT EXPECT IT FROM THESE COWBOYS!
IF YOU WANT A MODEM THAT FLASHES ITS LIGHTS AND DOES NOTHING ELSE THEN SIGN UP!

Review by Anonymous, February 11, 2010

A JOKE COMPLETE AND UTTER JOKE THEY SHOULD ADVERTISE ON THAT GAME SHOW ON TV3 AT MIDNIGHT

Review by Joaquim Tomas, February 6, 2010

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Last week I signed for Fibre Power Broadband 5Mb order was confirmed by NTL.
A few days later I received the followinf information “Thank you for your online order. Unfortunately the Fibre Power Broadband service is currently not available at your address. When your area is upgraded to Fibre Power Broadband you will receive written notification from us.”

Today I received a call from NTL saying, for the moment they have no modems available, but they can install TV, (service that I did not order) and my answer was NO, I don’t watch TV I have no TV why I have to pay for something I don’t want, Idon’t use and I didn’t asked. No business with this kind of companies.Don’t trust the service they advertise.

there are a lot of negative comments about UPC on here and I don’t doubt that a lot of them are justified, but although I have been burned by both ntl (twice) and chorus in the past, I’ve found UPC to be pretty good overall since i signed up at the end of 2008.

It’s not been totally hassle free, but for the most part I am a lot happier with them than with my previous ISP (BT Ireland).

Yes, they impose a FUP of 250gb on their top product, but for €40 per month for a 30mbps connection, it’s a lot cheaper than paying for TWO eircom or other 24mbps DSL connections that wouldn’t normally give you half that speed.

I’m paying UPC for 30mbps and off-peak I usually get almost exactly that and although I do sometimes lose about half of that during peak times, it’s still much better than I would ever get on DSL.

Come August, that 30mbps will become 60mbps (or 120mbps if you have deep enough pockets) and there isn’t a DSL connection in the country that can come even close to that, even under the ideal theoretical conditions that nobody will ever get.

Review by Zev, January 27, 2010

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Since I arrived in Ireland a few years ago, very very few of the many ISPs I have used have ever compared to the service I’ve received in other countries, quite frankly the Irish are being ripped-off by the “service” providers here. There are very few if any ISPs I could recommend here either for their service or customer care.
However UPC (chorus/NTL) is – or was – one of the best I’ve used here. I’ve used UPC in Cork for 3 years now and until the last year or so all was well.

In the last year the connection speed has steadily declined and ping times have massively increased. As well as this, contacting customer care queue times have jumped enormously. Just today I spent 1 hour and 30 minutes in queue on the phone (I have a hands-free phone fortunately). Only to be disconnected twice and queue again for another 15-30 mins.

These days, at least in Cork, connection speeds with UPC are generally less than half of what you pay for and that’s just on a good day. I hear they are upgrading the network but that excuse has been going on now for a year.

If you are moving to Cork I would not recommend using UPC for the time being. When they finally get around to finishing their perpetual upgrade works in the area then perhaps.

Review by GC, January 27, 2010

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Good broadband product. TERRIBLE customer service. They are guarenteed to ***** up everything you ask them to do, without fail. They will promise to call you back over and over but never actually do it. Very unplesant to deal with. It took two rgistered letters, three non-registered letters and 10 calls to get my account closed in my last address.

Review by Brian O'Neill, January 25, 2010

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I live in Lucan and am amazed by all of the comments on this page. I’m on the 10mb package and find it great. Great for online gaming – PC and Xbox live, general browsing and bigger downloads. The only negative thing that I have to say about Chorus-NTL is that the customer service is nothing short of apalling. I had to contact them once and the response time was insulting. I wrote to them to complain about that, but heard nothing back.

CONGESTION ISSUES PLAGUE THE NETWORK IN CORK AT THE MOMENT, MONTHS OF WORK TO BE DONE, MY ADVICE WAIT AND MAKE SURE THE UPGRADE TO FIBRE-OPTIC IS FULLY COMPLETE AND THEN DEFINITELY GET CHORUS BROADBAND, TERRIBLE SERVICE FOR LAST FEW MONTHS IN MY AREA CLOSE TO UCC AND FRIDAY-SUNDAY SPEED IS OK/GOOD BUT SUNDAY EVENING AND MIDWEEK EVENINGS THE SPEED IS ALL OVER THE PLACE, I CAN ONLY COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT CHORUS SOLD A LOAD OF NEW CONTRACTS IN MY AREA AND STUDENTS ARE PLUGGIN IN ALL ROUND SAME TIME, AS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE ITS FULL OF LYING INCOMPETENT WASTERS WHO DONT WANT TO BE THERE SO JUST WAIT A FEW MONTHS AND HOPEFULLY THE SERVICE WILL BE TOP AGAIN COZ ITS RUBBISH NOW TRUST ME!!!!

Review by Bruce Hayes, January 14, 2010

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If You are considering online gaming avoid these like the plague….I have the 10mb Broadband and Value Pack TV from them…For a week after installation I still hadn’t received the 1 High Def Channel I was paying an extra 2.50pm for.They sent out 2 different engineers…The 2nd one told me that HD wasn’t even available in my area even though it was sold to me….On my 2nd bill I was charged 10 euro for downgrading from HD pack…(I’m Guessing They Don’t Recruit From MENSA Databases)..
Regarding the broadband itself,its not a problem for regular PC stuff. But using xbox live is disastrous,Ping is way too high for gaming….Done a Speedtest recently : 24mbs down 1mbs up and still lagging across the screen on xbox with those speeds. Oh yeah If You Nag Them Enough They Will Boost More Juice Down Your Line( I Regularly Get More Than 20mbs For The Price Of 10)

Review by Graham Gallagher, January 6, 2010

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the speeds are half of what you pay, they trans fare you to a premium line (1 EURO A MINUTE) when you contact customer support, the “support team” are the most patronising idiots who dont know what the **** they are talking about. just unbelievably BAD

Review by BC, December 30, 2009

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Dreadful ISP.

A so-called “Unlimited” service but they have a “Fair Usage Policy” which allows them to set your combined upload and download to whatever they wish. I exceeded this arbitrary limit and received a warning letter. They should be open about these limits and not claim to have an “Unlimited” service.

Review by Alex, December 22, 2009

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I was with NTL for the last 3 years. Their service was usually good and it was good value for money. Lately the quality of service is getting worse and worse.

For the last 3 month I was getting package losses of up to 20% in the evening. I guess they have sold too many new connections in my area and can’t cope with the contention anymore. 7-9p.m. 20MBit gives me a speed of 200kb/s. Ping is constant above 200ms to google.ie.

Not worth 40 Euro, I am moving to a different ISP.

Review by John, December 14, 2009

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Chorus NTL is Completely Crap!

Review by P.M., October 20, 2009

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I have been happy with this ISP. They even upgraded me up to 10mb for free from 3mb. But lately my internet speeds have been dropping horrendously to sometimes below 0.5mb download speed and my ping gets up to about 200. But apparently this is the best of a bad bunch. As soon as a better ISP comes to Ireland I will be straight on it.

Review by P Brian, October 10, 2009

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Would have been better if they did not have customer service at all, to save our nerves, time and money. Worst ISP in this country..

Review by Vi, October 6, 2009

At ’10 Mb’ speed, I spend about 4 hours streaming a 40-minute tv-show… This has to be illegal in a developed country! And NTL are meant to be the best provider?! What are the rest of them like?

Review by 2012bebo@gmail.com, October 3, 2009

OK THIS IS A MESSAGE TO ALL NEW COMERS, IF YOU WANT SERVICE FORM THIS COMANY THINK AGAIN.
PLEASE
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. YOU WILL PAY TOO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE.

YOU MAY THINK PAYING €32 SOUNDS QUITE GOOD FOR 10MB SERVICE BUT INFACT YOU WILL PAY MORE MONEY IN THE LONG RUN.

ALSO WHY DO THEY HAVE TO PENALIZE YOU FOR DOWNGRADING?????

CLICK, CLICK, CLICK AND YOUR DOWN GRADED…. SO WHY DO THEY PAY €10 DOWNGRADE??? ILL TELL YOU WHY ITS THEIR WAY OF PUNISHING YOU.

THESE PEOPLE ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN THE BULLIES, PIMPS AND CORNER DRUG PUSHERS YOU SEE AROUND THE STREETS.
I WOULD RATHER GET SHAFTED BY SADDAM AND g BUSH jr

so for those of you out there start writing complaints and hopefully those horse holes will get their act together (but i dought it)

Review by anna raymond, September 22, 2009

i have found chorus service appauling from start to finish i would not even rate them.with its constant signal problems it felt like we spent more time without channels than with.And not to mention their absolutly crap customer service i think their staff must be ashamed to work for them they must only employ ********!Even now that iv cancelled paying what was outstanding on my bill they are continuing to bill me crazy money saying that the address on the back of the bill is actualy the wrong address for cancelations which i think is supplying customers with misleading information.i hate them and would hope anyone considering getting them would think twice!

Review by dotty, August 29, 2009

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When it works it works great, although lately i have been dropping signal a lot.I think UPC are really the best of a very bad bunch.Heard nothing but horror stories about Eircom etc.

The technicians are cowboys and the customer service is horrendous although the waiting times on the phone have reduced.

If i were you reading this go outside and do something productive,its now 04:12am and i`m still here sitting in front of this screen.

I`m going to bed

Review by Ryan, August 19, 2009

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I am lovin this broadband just got the 10mb package today and i am very happy with it. if my speed drops all i have to do is restart the router and off i go!

Review by Jamesiree, August 13, 2009

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What a joke, this company really needs to pull its thumb out. When calling customer services to report a problem with digi+ box, I was forced to listen to a barrage of advertising about how NTL, have won this award and that award. Well, it would answer them better to concentrate on their customers, who are left holding on for an unncessary amount of time. NTL, have the potential to be a great company, if they would only clean up their act.

Review by bob, August 12, 2009

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Getting ****** off with them now. Been with them over year and for the first couple of months the service was great, but as they’re consumer base has grown they’ve started making cutbacks, in terms of what speeds i get throughout the day, and ping times are absolutely embarrassing.

Costumer service then is pretty non-existent too with seemingly no-one knowing what on earth their job is meant to be.

Cowboys. And i’ll be switching the moment some actual competition for them enters the market. Won’t hold ,my breath on that one. What a hole of a country we live in.

Review by ryba, August 6, 2009

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Worst broadband i have ever had. Ping time goes up and down every second so i cant use my connection for gaming, various download speed, depend on time of the day.

I dont recommen Chorus NTL

Review by Keith Domican, August 3, 2009

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Signed up to the 20Mb package a month ago for €42, double the price of the 3Mb. And yet my download speed have rarely gone above 1.5Mb – what the hell am I paying €42 for? After phoning to make sure to had me switched over and complaining I was told a technician would call me back. Which never happened. I complained again. Same thing. I was then asked by one service guy what I was downloading and why I needed such speed anyway. I asked him why I was paying for a service I wasn’t receiving and to just drop me back top the 3Mb package as I’m not even even getting a 3Mb speed. He told me there would be a charge for this. So I have to pay to downgrade from a service I’m paying for and never received. Absolute ********.

Review by Diarmuid, July 16, 2009

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Absoloutely disgusting.. WORST ISP in Ireland.. horrible service.. and the connection is desperate. Ping time is horrible. I use my connection for gaming.. and at the moment… I cannot even stream videos normally. Absolutely disgusted with their service, and regretted moving from my previous provider, as I assumed moving to their 20MB connection was better than my previous 7MB. Little did I know I would be getting a few KB when it gets busy.

I wouldnt recommend Chorus NTL even to people I hate, as even they dont deserve such horrific service.

Review by T. Mc Namara, July 2, 2009

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I had ntl/chorus when I lived in Dublin for the duration of my 12 month contract I made 2 phone calls per week and sent 3 emails per week regarding a lack of service on my t.v.
I do have to say the internet speed is very good but overall the service is extremely un-reliable.
Customer service is a nightmare right up the chain of command , they dont do call backs staff and supervisors can get nothing done no matter how much they say they can.
I would say that if there service was reliable and you didnt ever need to contact customer care they would score alot higher but due to the lack of proffessionalism or honesty in there customer care department they score as low as possible.
If you have any other option take it but if you dont then consider a life whithout internet/t.v or phone as life is to short for the hard ship of dealing with this company.

Review by Robert Murphy, June 9, 2009

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This is easily the worst broadband service i have ever encountered. All these reviews that attempt to make NTL out to be a good ISP and have qualified customer care agents are a joke. They’re customer care could’nt possibly be in worse condition from my point of view. I had 5 “engineers” to my house within 3 weeks, and they could’nt improve my internet problems at all(Engineers in quotes because they’re not really engineers from what i can see but, an average joe who could’nt tell his right hand from left). I was told by the last one that there was to much contention on the line, and yet they have done nothing to fix this. I know for a fact that I am not the only person in my area with the problems of LOW INTERNET SPEEDS, LAGG IN GAMES, DOWNLOAD SPEED VARIES FROM DAY OF THE WEEK AND TIME….., EXTREMELY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICES, ETC!! I mean haveing had a bad experience with eircom before I must say that the ISP’s here(in Ireland) are atrocious. If you have any alternative to this shoddy, undignified, unqualified ISP, then use it. Its is not worth wasting your time and money on.

Review by Ivo Kivistik, June 9, 2009

Hello!
IM reading for while now and thinking like most here…. UPC is very poor and rest are worse. I dont know what to do.. Why I complain is speed 20Mb what promised… I do not see it yet, not even morning where maximum is 10Mbit …. Very far from 20Mb. I have very good tester… LINK 4 you as well…www.speedtest.net FANTASTIC thing… saving all data as well. Anyway, I asked cust.service do you know what means MB and Mb… She was confused when I told you speed is 0.05MB No one called me back,like they promised, but I do make noise. This kind of cheating is unforgivable.

Please write more here about this NTL CHORUS…. Im not happy at all.
In my country, Estonia, we will have 100Mb ready 2011. This what world needs.

Best regards,
NAAS area…

Review by anybodybutNTL, May 9, 2009

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Extremely poor customer service from NTL. The staff appear to be very poorly trained; unable to respond properly to emailed queries, unable to follow-up on anything as agreed, unsure of how to explain your bills etc. The technical staff appear to only know how to carry out a ‘ping’ test and then book a call-out (which might or might not happen as you had been told).

If you have options, consider carefully!

Review by Kamil, May 2, 2009

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I have the 10MB package in D7 and it’s great for online gaming and downloading large files such as 1GB the wireless router works perfectly with my Mac and my PS3.The speed vary from time to time usually 6MB highest I have noted was 9,3MB lowest was 4,6MB (week end)

Coustomer Service is not the best but they answered all my emails I sent in a period of a week and the next emails I had sent have never been answered.

Review by Paul, May 1, 2009

Well it started on a Friday, NTL to call between 9 and 1pm. After many calls from me to them (zero from them to me) engineers eventually arrived at 4:30 ! After drilling a hole through my wall (with permission) all the lights didn’t show on the modem which meant the maintenance crew needed to get involved. The lads from Carlow got in their van and left and told me the maintenance crew would be around over the weekend. I called on Tuesday and was told that the next guys would out on Thirsday PM to “finish it off” between 1 and 5PM. So at 4:50 I called the number in Carlow and eventually found out that the engineer was running late and would be between 6 and 7 before the engineer got here. Arrived at 7:20 and at 21:10 left and till no NTL broadband ! He worked hard and made every attempt even lifting manhole covers but no joy. e did his best and seemed let down by the Others. So now I have no clue whats next. Take my advice, even if this is the best BB in toe world, for this type of service, it is not worth it !

Review by Moses Abe, April 26, 2009

Chorus ntl is a joke. It is text book example of bad business and service!
Customer service is non- existent. They have mastered unauthorised ways of
debiting customer’s account. I just recovered nearly a thousand euros!
I have been without cable tv or broadband for several weeks..again!!. To my amazement,
I was asked to check if my neighbour had the same problem!!!
There is no real alternative in my area, but thank goodness I will be moving out soon.

Review by McSpeedfreak, February 7, 2009

twice a day the i.net just drops….
dl speeds are faster on my mobile phone and their customer support…. well…
suffice to say i am looking for a new ISP.

Review by Aaron, January 26, 2009

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I’ve been a Chorus NTL subscriber for 7 months (since I moved to Dublin). First 4 months were great, TV service was fine, and my 10MB connection was lightning fast and rock solid. After those 4 months though, things have gone downhill considerably. I went through a period of about 6 weeks were I either had no TV, no broadband, or nothing at all (and occasionally TV, but achingly slow broadband). Customer service was useless – I was told repeatedly it was a problem with the equipment in my area (D8), had an engineer sent out, and told it was fixed numerous times. In the past 2 months it has improved, with no problems on the TV front. My broadband connection still suffers from bouts of awful speeds, with no apparent solution.

If I weren’t stuck in a 12 month contract I’d have left a few months ago. Awful – avoid at all costs for broadband.

Review by Maurice, January 23, 2009

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While not a technocrat, I have had problems with NTL (ok UPC) for several years, with my broadband recently surpassing my digital service for frustration.

The refusal to take any responsibility for the wireless router they sold me (as they won’t service it) is incredibly unreasonable. Our signal works so run away is not a great message.

Review by Nick, January 17, 2009

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Can you give minus starts for customer service? 6 months of the service dropping every other day both TV and Broadband. Next to impossible to speak with anyone who seemed to have any idea what day of the week it was let alone how to organize for an engineer to call out to look at the problem. It took them 4 months to get the name and address correct on my account. Moving in a few months so will be over the moon to move away from this dreadful company.

Review by Frank, January 12, 2009

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Very Reliable so far. Good value for money but oh my God the Customer Service is so bad I just cant talk about it without breaking into tears…

I’ve been a broadband/TV customer of NTL (UPC now) for the last three years, and, I can say with certainty, that there is probably no other company operating in Ireland (more specifically the greater Dublin area), that I would consider purchasing a broadband service from with the exceptions of possibly Magnet and Smart Telecom.
At the risk of sounding somewhat hubristic, I am not simply a discerning customer, but someone who has worked in the telecommunications industry for a good number of years and for two big players in the sector, so I have a good deal of inside knowledge and technical understanding which influence my views of course.
Ultimately, the most important thing to remember about choosing an ISP is, that no matter how good a reputation the company has, essentially broadband is a technical service which may or may not work well for a number of reasons, and can be limited by various physical factors, so it’s important to understand these and to exercise a serious dose of caveat emptor when making your selection, because ISP’s are generally reluctant to admit their limitations.
So, why do I recommend UPC (NTL)? Well first of all, you have to appreciate what system infrastructure is most conducive to a high standard of broadband operability, and, without doubt, I can tell you that fibre-optic cabling has no rival whatsoever when it comes to consistently fast and reliable data transmission. Which ISP makes more extensive use of fibre optics than any other? Correct, UPC(NTL). I’ve had my subscription for nearly three years and I do not remember a single outage. Service is consistent, fast and uninterrupted
So let’s consider the major rival technologies, (or substitutes really because fibre optic technology has no proper rival): telephone network cabling (DSL or ADSL), wireless transmission and satellite transfer.
Okay, telephone network cabling first. We’re all aware that Eircom, and formerly Telecom Eireann (as a public entity) was responsible for the management and maintenance of the entire telephone cabling network of Ireland, and were tasked by the government (and incentivised with a number of grants and commercial concessions) to upgrade this network and oll out broadband to at least 50% of the population by the year 2000. As we all know, after an IPO, two privitisation debacles, and having changed hands several times, Eircom dithered and has put little or nothing into infrastructural investment. All the talk of portals and information age towns (Ennis) 10 years agao is now an embarrassing and distant memory. This presents a big problem for broadband customers. As mentioned, Eircom is a private concern, yet it has a legally defined social obligation, a Universal Services Obligation in fact, which states that it must, within reason, endeavour to provide a telephone (not necessarily broadband) service to the entire Irish population. As a private concern, this presents some serious financial problems (that’s why line rental is so high, Irish population density per mile of telephone cable is one of the lowest in Europe), as the costs of maintenance are high. Add to this the fact that Eircom is a split entity between wholesale and retail, the wholesale arm sells to its retail arm’s competitors. So, in short, the network, which consists of some very old, twisted pair copper cabling, is in very poor shape, making Eircom’s service patchy and unreliable, AND that of all of the resellers. You might get a better deal from BT, or better customer service from Pelico, but, ultimately, they’re both just reselling on Eircom’s network, making the service they provide severely limited, also they have to liaise with Eicom on their customers’ behalves whenever there s a fult, or if service needs to be done, which can take weeks, or even months. Apart from this you can take it from me, Eircom is a company rotten to the core, it’s staff are split between inefficient, unionised and adversarial life-long staff who are completely disinintersted, and have a disdainful public sector mentality, and contractors (Capita since 2005) who are paid very poorly, and have little or no training or expertise despite their best efforts. Add to this the fact that an Australian bank owns the majority stockholding, you’ve got a stuation where a company cannot improve its service and be efficient, because the owners view it as a cash cow and extract as much money from the business as possible. This means NO retained investment for infrastructural upgade: very bad news for Ireland and Irish broadband customers.
Okay, now let’s look at wireless transmission. The obvious major player here is Irish Broadband. I have some inside knowledge of this company, and I can tell you that this company is having very serious problems with its service. It is technically flawed, and the company is perhaps being a little overzealous in its selling techniques, and is not being entirely honest with customers. Wireless broadband works by radio signal transmission. This kind of transmission is very much limited by environmental factors, quite literally the weather. On top of this, electromagnetic interference can cause major problems with the quality of data transfer. Of all the internet technologies, this is the least reliable. Other companies who offer this service are the mobile operators, and also Eircom (really expensive).
Satelite transfer is relatively rare and generally expensive. As used for GPS systems, it was originally developed for use on ships etc, but has been adapted as a consumer product. The system is more reliable than wireless, however it is also subject to meteorological interference, especially from water droplets causing “rain damening”.
Overall, I would say that UPC (NTL) is your best bet, if you can get it. It is the fastest (I think magnet might have a similar speed top package), most reliable service, and by far the best value for money. They also have the most generous download allowances (unlimited after from 10MB speed upwards), and even if you do exceed your allowance on the lesser packages (which I routinely did, by A LOT), instead of charging you exorbitant rates per MB like the other operators, they simply give you a polite phonecall, remind you of their fair usage policy and ask you if you would be interested in upgrading. UPC get a lot of stick on the customer services front, which is why I ranked them a 3 here (I’ve only had to deal with a phone operator once and he was actually very helpful), based on other reports and consumer satisfaction indices, but BELIEVE ME, you do not want to get on the wrong side of Eircom’s credit management department (or a number of the other operators), they are highly aggressive and legalistic. NTL might be hard to get through to, but in my opinion, the greatest indicator of a company’s customer service, is not how friendly, polite and helpful they are when you ring them, but how often they give you CAUSE to ring them, and as I said, 1 phonecall in 3 years initiated by me – that’s pretty good customer service in my book.
If you can’t get NTL and you have to use DSL, I would stongly recommend Magnet or Smart, both because they are developing infrastructures themselves. All of the other DSL players are essentially resellers of Eircom’s service, making you an indirect customer of Eircom, and therefore subjecting you to the same disgraceful service (or worse) that you would get if you were a direct customer. No matter how polite, friendly and helpfl your ISP is, they’re still essentially just and intermediary who is completely hamstrung and made impotent by Eircom. As for the Wireless option, steer clear unless nothing else is available, and make sure you test it very well in the first month before you sign any contract, run speed tests etc.
P.s. an excellent resource for comparing and choosing ISP’s is Comreg’s callcosts.ie site. I would highly resommend using this site as an impartial, objective evaluator of all ISP’s, theie respective services and pricing.

After a very glitchy start which was probably due to being in a new development with 250 or so new connections, it’s been pretty much rock-solid for the last two years. Recently upgraded to the 10Mb/s line which seems to be solid at between 9.5 and 10 Mb/s most of the time. Upload speeds are good, but could be faster, as with most ISP’s apart from Irish Broadband which I’ve used before and had a symmetrical upload/download speed of 3Mb/s.

Fairly good value for money too, but I think pretty much all ISP’s (especially in Ireland) are rip-off merchants.

Fairly reliable (goes down for a few minutes around midnight every several days or so) and very speedy (I am on the Ultra package, freely upgraded recently to the 20mb rate.) Installation was easy enough though the chap who did it unplugged my Sky cable and I had to tell him to plug it back in (a competitive practice?)

My one gripe is their call-out customer service is poor. A cable came loose and the broadband stopped working. I phoned them and they said it would take 3 weeks for a technician to come out and have a look. 3 weeks of no broadband was not an option and I was lucky I figured out how to fix the cabling.

Most people who call NTL’s support desk are in even worse humour after they have spent 20-30 mins listening to a broken piece of music that looped endlessly every 8 seconds. I was usually ready to kill by the time I got through to someone.

The broadband signal would drop frequently, necessitating a reboot of the router, a solution that only worked 50% of the time. Multiple outages – however, rarely lasting more then 6 – 8 hours (unlike Eircom).

I was delighted to get away from NTL finally, but even that wasn’t easy. They require 30 days notice, and their billing systems will take the full value of any direct debits during that time, leaving them owing you money. This overpayment is not refunded automatically upon account closure, you will need to contact them and chase them for it. It will finally be provided in the form of a cheque (even though you paid them electronically!)

If you are cancelling your Chorus/NTL account, then do yourself a favour and also cancel your Direct Debits at your bank at the same time. Make them send you a final invoice and pay them in cents!

AH, Chorus NTL have my heart broken.
Current problem:
Every time you use the net or click on a link it interferes with the TV signal! I kid you not. We thought it might have been the wireless router, but a bit of testing (i.e. plugging the cable straight into the computer) proved that not to be the case.

Waiting for AGES on the customer service line (the agent sounded pretty incredulous and disbelieving of our problem), and still haven’t managed to get a suitable time slot for someone to come and fix it (we both work so their time slots [ie. Tues, 9am-12pm] are completely impractical).

The one day the boyfriend did take the time off work, the NTL guy didn’t show up within the allotted time slot. We have now resorted to asking my sister to apartment sit for the day.

Really fed up with having to choose between the TV or the internet as we pay for both, but really haven’t been given any glowing recommendation for another isp.

Review by Bob Smith, October 29, 2008

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Lightning fast in the mornings and afternoons (download speeds of 1.8mb per sec) but slows considerably in the evenings due to contention, I imagine.

Upload speed is very fast. So far it’s been reliable. Good value in a bundle with TV. Customer service is awful though. Not so much the people who answer the phone but the time it takes to get to talk to someone

Review by Abby, October 21, 2008

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Chorus were a rubbish tv supplier, so when they merged with NTL i wasnt happy about it. However NTL for both the tv and the broadband are great, they have no problem when we upgrade or downgrade to any of their packages, and the service itself is reliable and fast. I didnt see the point of upgrading from 6MB to 10MB as the 6MB is fast enough for family use.

Fair play to NTL/UPC they have a good thing going with the broadband. I have a 10Mbit connection speed with a low contention rate meaning my speed is usually rock steady at 9.5Mbit. This is great I think, easily the best I’ve had.
I’ve been with Eircom and I’ll never ever have anything to do with them ever again – they are just the worst company I’ve ever dealt with. Their head of customer service actually hung up on me when I was making a complaint! BT were good but expensive I thought and had a higher contention ratio. So when NTL/UPC offered me digital tv, a digital PVR and a 10Mbit broadband for €65 a month I said Yes Please. Generally a very good service though they do of course have technical problems once in a while.
Their customer service though is awful – impossible to get through to someone without an eternity listening to incredibly poor quality Mozart. Then IF you get through, their technicians only work at times that are INconvenient to you. Having to take a day’s unpaid leave just so you can wait all morning for the cable guy to arrive is NOT customer service. It’s appalling and should be totally and completely changed.
As an ISP however NTL are the best I’ve experienced; the broadband itself is great. It’s getting it in the first place is the problem.

Review by Simon Tomkins, October 20, 2008

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I’ve found NTL’s broadband excellent especially after my last experience with eircom. 10MB Broadband and no line rental as part of my digital tv package for €58 a month